Quakes Report: San Jose Acquires Arturo Alvarez From FC Dallas

The San Jose Earthquakes have added yet another new face to their squad. Using the first round pick and allocation money acquired from Houston in the Kei Kamara trade, the Quakes added Arturo Alvarez as the fourth newcomer to the team in the last two weeks. Alvarez is a familiar face to San Jose, having joined the club back in 2003 at just 17 years of age.

Arturo saw limited playing time with the Earthquakes, and after scoring two goals for San Jose in 26 league appearances, he was promptly sent by former Quakes coach Dominic Kinnear to Dallas along with Richard Mulrooney in exchange for Brad Davis.

Alvarez enjoyed strong success at times with the Super Hoops, and his great showing during the 2007 season earned him time with the U.S Under-23 Men's National Team, as well as a trial with Bordeaux, runners up in the French Ligue 1. While the 23-year-old Alvarez spent most of his time in Dallas on the left side of midfield, the Quakes surely will expect Arturo to spend time as a striker.

In the end, San Jose has essentially dealt Kei Kamara for Arturo Alvarez, which has to be a win for the Quakes. Alvarez has shown some flashes of brilliance, and could be quite the nice complement to Scott Sealy or Ryan Johnson up front.

Alvarez may be most comfortable on the left side, there already seems to be a rather large waiting list on the Earthquakes roster for time on the left side. While some have suggested the Earthquakes may switch to a 4-3-3 with Alvarez here, Yallop will most likely stick to a 4-4-2. At this point, we would be most likely to see:

This lineup would have to be considered a formidable threat in the league, especially if Ryan Johnson could be used as a late sub, throwing his body around at exhausted defenders. It's hard not to like this move for San Jose.